The Enchantment of Destruction's Curse
by CrazyNinjaPenguin
Summary: Charged with defeating a genocidal maniac, Anko and Kurenai must fight for their lives. Faced with manipulation and the danger of Anko's curse seal, the two must pull together to come out alive, discovering a new love in the process. YURI. Anko X Kurenai
1. Boredom, Friendship, and Hatred

A/N: Hello, and welcome all. This is my sixth fanfic so hopefully I've learned something by now. Anyways, this time I've paired Anko and Kurenai. In case you're slow, those are both women, this is yuri, please don't read if you don't like that kinda stuff. So yeah, hopefully the rest of ya'll will be enjoying this.

Disclaimer: The fish stole my taco. (and less significantly… I don't own Naruto)

Anko Mitarashi gave a hard sigh. The usually energetic special-jounin was truly bored of the waiting required of her mission. She had been part of a team assigned the task of finding the cause of a recent outbreak of disease in some harbor town on the western coast of the Land of Fire. She had originally been hopeful that this would be something exciting, but it seemed her only charge would be to sit around while medical experts performed some sort of tests on the food, air and water. In her boredom, Anko began to question why shinobi were even needed for a mission like this. She reminded herself of this town's relative proximity to the border with the Land of Sound; in its weakened state there was little defense against an attack. Yes, Anko, could see the Hokage's wisdom, in sending them to such a vulnerable spot, but as she thought about the skilled shinobi all around her, silently biding their time with looks of boredom equal to her own, she began to wonder if this wasn't pushing things just a little too far.

It appeared that the Hokage would have several of her best shinobi sit around here in hopes of preventing an attack that might not happen. Including Anko there were two jounin and four chunin stationed in the town's defense. The chunin she had charge over were fairly familiar to her, an assortment of the elite and more recently promoted: Shikamaru Nara, Kotetsu Hagane, Iruka Umino, and Kiba Inuzuka. Leading this mismatched group along with her, was jounin Kurenai Yuhi, a beautiful genjutsu specialist. It was this kunoichi whom she had spent most of her time in the company of. She was only four years her elder and the only other woman on this mission and was someone Anko regarded as a friend.

"So do you think something interesting will happen this month?" Anko asked sarcastically to the other woman.

"There's no guarantee this will last the whole month, as soon as the medical crew finds any sort of possible cause, we will be able to head home." Kurenai said coolly, though her boredom was evident as well.

"Like Hell! You know just as well as me that as soon as they find out what this thing is, their gonna ask us to stay and 'protect them' until they find a cure." Anko snapped back angrily.

"You don't seem to be taking this all that seriously, Anko, people have died you know." Kurenai said with a bored sigh.

"I know that, but that's not something I can change; me being here won't save one life. The Hokage should have sent a medical squad rather than a ninja team if the only enemy is disease." Anko continued as before.

"Anko, this town has doctors, what it needs in a moment of weakness is defense." Kurenai spoke rationally.

"Yeah, a defense against terminable boredom…" Anko replied jokingly.

"You sound like you want this town to get attacked." Kurenai said with a condescending smile.

"Of course not… it's just, when I was assigned an 'A rank' mission I had assumed I would be doing something dangerous." The younger woman said in an irritated voice.

"Well, disregarding the possibility of an attack by Sound ninja at any time and the prospect of catching some deadly unknown disease I'd have to agree with you about the danger level of this mission." Kurenai retorted, sarcasm now evident in her words.

"Yeah but what are the possibilities of this place actually being attacked? I doubt the Sound ninja even know about this outbreak." Anko said indignantly.

"True, but we can't rule out the possibility, that the Sound ninja may even be responsible for this outbreak, in which case a raid of some sort is almost guaranteed… After the incident in the village last year I wouldn't put anything past someone like that." Kurenai deduced calmly.

"Orochimaru… I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens." Anko seemed to quell her emotions at the thought of the ultimate target of her scorn.

"It seems the medical team has found something, the two of you should come receive the report." A somewhat energetic Iruka called out to the two women before rushing off on his own.

"See, with all your complaining, it was only a matter of time before we got our analysis." Kurenai spoke with a laugh as the two walked toward their fellow shinobi.

"So what's the conclusion?" Anko asked a man dressed in medical gear.

"It's a virus. Origin unknown. It travels through the air and seems inherently drawn to bodies possessing larger amounts of chakra. Though victims are varied. It drains the body of it's energy but it doesn't seem to be fatal to a healthy body. A vaccine is currently being developed and should be completed in a month's time if all goes accordingly. We beseech you to stay on as our protection till then but you all should, refrain from entering the village directly." The medical expert said with a serious professional tone.

"Ha, sounds just like some bio-weapon test. This is a new direction for those sound bastards." Kotetsu said with a hateful smirk.

"Damn Straight. Looks like this'll turn out fun after all." Kiba said with a certain enthusiasm.

"Now Kiba, there is still the possibility this is natural occurrence, or that someone else is to blame. Manipulating a virus requires scientific research, something it is doubtful our enemy possesses." Kurenai replied in a reasonable tone to her student.

"Whatever, this whole thing really is a bother. Makes me wonder why I signed up for such a troublesome mission in the first place." Shikamaru said with his usual lack of enthusiasm.

"So Kurenai, looks like someone was correct in her assumptions." Anko bragged half-heartedly.

"Yeah, looks like you got another month of terminal boredom, just as you predicted." Kureani said with a slight laugh.

"Shut up." Anko said with a deep sigh as the group dispersed back to the campsite they had set up.

Days passed slowly as the ninja group continued to guard a foreign town that they were barred from even entering directly. If it weren't for Kurenai's company Anko figured she would just die from boredom. Much to her surprise on one night of her impatient waiting a new danger would approach.

"So are you and Asuma still at it?" Anko asked out of nowhere, being forced to turn to personal questions, now to consume her time.

"Oh… I suppose it's off and on, although for the most part it's off at the moment. How about you, I don't see you out with guys all that often." Kurenai said with a slightly embarrassed laugh.

"Well, I've never found anything that lasts. I guess I'm just too much for them to handle." Anko replied with a smile.

"That seems about right. I doubt there's anyone out there who could handle the full force of your personality…" Kurenai said coolly, slightly under her breath.

"That's not nice; you make it sound like no one likes me." Anko laughed.

"I like you." Kurenai replied half-mockingly.

"Somehow, I don't think that counts for much." Anko said with a sigh.

"Not to change the subject from your lack of a love life, but I've been giving this virus some serious thought and I'm kind of concerned." Kurenai said in a new more serious tone.

"What, you think there's backing to the thought that it's Orochimaru's new weapon." Anko said slightly disappointed at the new tone.

"I'd say there's a good chance that it's manmade. It doesn't seem to fit their profile, not now. They suffered extensive losses in the invasion attempt a year ago as well, it's unlikely they would commit a crime that would lead to full on war so readily. Besides, medical research requires both facilities and experts. Our spies would have noticed large scale facilities being constructed, and according our data on the enemy, only a few people of sufficient medical knowledge claim loyalty to Orochimaru." Kurenai speculated.

"Then this is an isolated occurrence, caused by someone working independently. That's a pretty solid deduction." Anko responded casually, feeling kind of stupid.

"Exactly. In which case we just need to locate this perpetrator to complete our mission." Kurenai said in a somewhat determined manner.

"No need, I'll save you the trouble, Miss Yuhi." An unfamiliar voice called out to her, at it's sound the full group began to assemble quickly.

"Who are you!" Anko yelled at the direction of the sound, soon three figures appeared at the night skies edge.

"Ahh, Miss Anko Mitarashi, allow me to introduce myself, I am called Kaizo Karyuudomi, and these are my lovely assistants, Musouka Seijo and Reimei Bouyaku." A strange man spoke these words, he was short and thin, with white-blonde hair, gray eyes and a sad smile. He wore a black robe and looked to be about thirty years of age. He was flanked on either side by a young woman. The first designated as Musouka, looked about twelve, she had brown hair, cut short, her eyes had a red glow to them, and she was similarly dressed to the man. The other girl was a few years older and dressed similarly, except her hair was a vibrant purple that matched her eyes. All three figures wore Sound ninja headbands.

"How do you know our names?" An excited Kiba Inuzuka called fiercely, his loyal dog Akamaru barking equally as fiercely by his side.

"Well, Chunin Kiba Inuzuka, my cohort, Mr. Yakushi, is adept at gathering information, I just happen to be quite skilled at remembering it." The man named Kaizo spoke in a tone that mixed bitterness, intelligence, and insanity.

"So you do work for Orochimaru." Anko snapped angrily.

"Well yes, I suppose in technicality, I do, but lately I've found it more enjoyable to keep to myself. With his record of failure, Orochimaru's attention has shifted from his shinobi village and his war, onto bending that child to be his vessel. It's more fitting someone of my caliber to engage in his work regardless of orders." The Sound ninja continued in his disturbed tone, the children next to him staring forward motionless.

"What do you get out of this? What are you planning?" An aggravated Iruka asked.

"Well I suppose the reason I do what I do is, I'm a homicidal maniac." He replied unassumingly.

"Well at least this guy's honest." Shikamaru said with a sigh.

"You see I wish to see mankind die. The obliteration of this pathetic race is something I feel I must accomplish, so I've ran my little test here, to see what I can do. The level to which I can control my fellow man's thought patterns, drain him of his strength, cause his death. I f my tests go accordingly I might end up not needing Orochimaru to bring about the level of death I desire." Kaizo's words seemed to alter his speech to a crazed rant.

"You bastard, that's not something we're just going to sit back and allow!" Anko called angrily.

"That's why I'm here, Miss Mitarashi, Your presence here disturbs my research. I feel you all must be eliminated if I am to have my way with this sample." The psychopath said with a twisted smile as the two creepy girls moved forward glaringly.

"In that case let's see what you can do." Anko called fiercely assuming a battle stance, unsure of who her opponent would be.

A/N: Well that's how this little fic starts. I know I'm back to the same pseudo-action formula I always use. The light drama thing I did with Hinata and Sakura was nice, but there are only so many plots that can work, and this sort of thing seems successful. To make this one different, I upped the evilness factor of the psycho bastard, instead of being a simple unstable murderer, he's a medical research guy with dreams of mass-genocide; he's also a Sound Ninja, just so Anko can get extra pissed off at him. As for the Kurenai X Anko stuff, I 'm sorry but it has to be put on light at first, forcing a relationship between two mature women is harder than between two fifteen year old girls. I'm trying to make this seem even somewhat halfway semi-plausible (though that's probably a dream left to be abandoned by a yuri writer). Hopefully I'm getting everyone somewhat in character. I know that the team I picked for this mission is incredibly random and stuff. I knew that there needed to be a certain number of chunin under a mission that would required two jounin, and I didn't want to create my own characters or leave them blank and nameless, so I pretty much selected four chunin at random trying not to pull heavily from any team. Anyway this note is long enough, so yeah, review, and read the next chapter.


	2. Anger, Terror, and Strength

A/N: All right chapter two is here! Hopefully it's to your liking.

Disclaimer: ZuBabavyiSh (Naruto is not owned by me).

"Dear Musouka, I believe it would be to our advantage to show this lady the power I've given you." Kaizo Karyuudomi said allowing his face to show a wide grin, as the eerie child moved in to face a defending Anko.

"Yes…" The girl said in a low, emotionless voice as her eyes glowed red like a monster.

Anko drew a kunai from her side and threw it with due accuracy toward the child who made no effort to avoid the attack. Musouka pulled the sharp blade from her shoulder unflinchingly, throwing it aside while showing no pain from the blood pouring fourth from her wound as she continued to move slowly toward Anko.

"What the hell is that girl?" Kiba said in utter shock.

"Kaizo Karyuudomi is the name of a highly skilled medical ninja Kirigakure. He went missing after he was convicted of performing illegal experiments on living beings. Given his history it is most likely this girl is some sort of test subject." Kurenai said coolly, showing little shock or surprise.

"I see that Konoha does not lack it's own information network. I'm flattered that one such as your self would have heard of me, Miss Yuhi." Kaizo said with a smirk.

"So that child… has likely been made this way. How terrible." Iruka added with a sad expression.

"All the more reason for us to make sure this guy gets it good." Kotetsu said with a hateful stare.

"So you all want to fight me now. Too bad, I seldom like to get my hand dirty if it's avoidable. Reimei shall prove a sufficient opponent for the lot of you chunin, whereas my precious Musouka shall serve to keep these ladies busy." Kaizo said with a spiteful laugh as his pawns motioned toward their designated opponents.

"Ha, you think some girl can take on the five of us?" Kiba said making sure to include his canine companion in the ranks of the group.

"I'll be more than a match for you guy's. Cuz I'm special. Master Kaizo made me that way." The girl said in an up-beat voice that seemed a lot more human than the other.

"Well let's see how special you are when you're bound to my shadow." Shikamaru made the first move as he stretched his shadow against the moonlight to the girl's feet, in order to test just what the girl was capable of.

"That's it Shikamaru! Now we can get her just like that." Kiba said with an energetic smile as he proceeded to prepare an attack.

"Hold on. Wait 'till I'm out of the way, make your strike right after I let go, otherwise it'll get me too." Shikamaru said in a particularly irritated tone

"Is that so? Well… then maybe this'll work…" The girl called Reimei said with a soft laugh, as she gave out a soft cry, in a moment she was glowing purple. A few seconds passed before a large explosion ripped through the air around her. Shikamru maaged to retract his shadow in time to prevent the full force of the blast, but still got caught in part of the explosion.

"What kind of attack is that?" Iruka cried in shock as he pulled Shikamaru to safety.

"It's my specialty. Thanks to master, I can make my chakra explode. I just project it from my body and it goes boom! It's really fun, and the best part is my body doesn't get hurt by it anymore, cuz master made me able to reabsorb the chakra when it touches me." Reimei said in her unusual tone, the explosion had shredded much of her clothes, but as she had observed, her body was unscathed.

"That seems like a pretty interesting skill there. This may be more troubling than I first imagined." Kotetsu gave a smirk as he took up arms for battle.

"Yes we'll have to be careful, now that we know what she can do.' Iruka replied simply as the chunin launched into a furious, explosive battle.

Meanwhile Musouka's movements toward Anko had grown sporadic and wild, and a still confused Anko found every attack of hers to seeming to cause no pain to the child.

"How is it she doesn't feel anything? What exactly did you do to her?" Anko called out trying to hold off her fear.

"Oh she feels it alright; she's just lost any need to express that pain. She's immune to such trivialities as that. Her only desire is to serve my goals to her fullest." Kaizo Karyuudomi said with a fierce evil in his eye.

"But she'll die if she continues." Anko yelled hatefully.

"She doesn't care. This child has lost the ability to understand what death is. Besides with the resistances her body has developed, death is something harder for her to achieve then you might think." He smiled maliciously as he talked.

"You sick freak. How could you…" Anko continued her cries.

"Oh dear Anko, you really shouldn't worry so much about the 'what,' 'why,' and 'how' your opponent is who she is, and focus more on claiming your victory." Kaizo laughed bitterly as he forced Anko's attention back to the bleeding girl, who was only a short distance from herself.

Anko jumped back instinctually in shock, but Musouka made her leap at rapid speed, to which none of her previous movements could even be compared. Soon the red-eyed girl was latched tightly onto Anko's back. Despite Anko's struggles to free herself, the girl managed to skillfully perform some jutsu, as she began to charge a dark red flame-like aura into Anko's neck. Alarmed at the situation, Kurenai rushed to her friends aid, forcefully throwing the child from Anko's back.

"What did you do to her?" Kurenai yelled her question, which was directed at an amused Kaizo, as Anko began to writhe in pain on the floor.

"It's simple really. The power of Musouka's chakra has the ability to directly effect one's emotion. Emotion's generally repressed or simply unexpressed in that person's typical persona can be brought to the surface. I developed this technique in hopes of creating a simple easily applied form of mind control, but seeing as how possessing this chakra drains one of their own emotions, the practical implications are limited. Still it makes for a fun ability in a servant, and a handy way to agitate a terminally inactive curse seal whose user lacks the will to even use." Kaizo spoke with a relative vigor.

"You didn't! Is such a thing even really possible, you can't just manifest emotions in someone where they don't exist in the first place." Kurenai cried out a disgusted look about her.

"Anger, hatred, the lust for power, the urge to destroy, there is no human immune to these triggers, augmenting them to an appropriate level is fairly plausible in any case. What I want to see, is how someone who's lived for years without ever using her curse seal, feels when it is suddenly thrust open." Kaizo retorted as he listened intently at Anko's paninful screams.

"It is clear that you are beyond any forgiveness. I shall destroy you here and now." Kurenai said with a certain force as her eyes shown with a brilliant fire.

"One such as you who's skill is in illusions has little chance of defeating someone devoid of emotions like my Musouka, or someone as completely grounded as myself." Kaizo smiled back.

"We'll see about that." Kurenai said smartly as she drew several kunai.

The jounin rushed forth at lightning speed toward the child Musouka, In a charge she forced the girl down against a tree, using all her strength only to barely overpower the child. Though struggling, Kurenai, secured the child to the tree my gruesomely pinning several kunai through the girl's arms and hands.

"Wow, what a surprise to think, that someone like you would be so heartless as to do such a thing, to an innocent child." Kaizo laughed crazily.

"This thing is a weapon not a child now. As someone adept at making illusions like you said, I'm not so likely to see things as they appear. With that, I turn my attention to you." Kurenai said with a hateful glare, that didn't fully mask her regret.

"Ahh, very well, if you insist, I will fight you." Kaizo said with a dramatic sigh.

Kaizo Karyuudomi drew a small, jagged edged knife with a dull, unnatural shine to it. With a sharp laugh, he made several short lunges at Kurenai, which the jounin dodged skillfully. As she did so the evil man drew forth several senbon, which he began to toss out at periodic intervals, which also were shrugged off with ease. Kurenai managed to get an attack in, connecting a blow with one of her kunai to the crazed man's shoulder

"Senbon and a poison tipped dagger, are those the only battle tricks you've got? I'm beginning to think there's another reason you typically have others fight your fights for you." Kurenai said with an enjoyable smirk.

"Well, Miss Yuhi, my true passion is my research. I never use myself as a test subject, so my body is relatively normal in comparison to my assistants there. The only thing that makes me a little different from someone like you is the little present Orochimaru gave me and that was merely to show my loyalty." Kaizo replied creepily as he pulled more needles from his things.

"You don't mean… that you have a curse seal as well." Kurenai said allowing her eyes to avert once more to her friend clenched by pain.

"Why yes, though mine is not quite to the level of some of his servants. I suppose if you're so interested, I shall allow you to see my power." Kaizo said with a smile, before making a painful gesture, followed by a sharp cry. In a moment strange marks covered the near entirety of the evil man's frame.

Kaizo Karyuudomi flew forward once more, this time his strikes proved possible to avoid, despite Kurenai's skill. She could feel her body begin to shut down as some toxin entered her from the knife and the volley of needles that followed. Any further resistance would be lost in futility.

"So Kurenai Yuhi, any last words before you become the first of my unfortunate victims." He said bitterly, his prior intellectuality lost in his new enraged tone.

Kurenai made no response, she simply closed her eyes, being forced to recognize her fate. When no finishing blow came she opened her eyes once more. A demon snake extended from out of nowhere, clenching hard at it's prey. Kaizo, made a struggling attempt to free him from the creatures jaws, but it's master beat his escape. Anko Mitarashi, a violent aura burning around her, her form distorted by the mark of her seal, made a vicious strike at the evil unleashing a gash of blood across his entirety.

"Ack, Impossible. This goes against all my calculations. Someone who's lived for years with an inactive Curse Seal of Heaven… to have it suddenly and violently thrust open. The pain your feeling should be too great for you to move, let alone fight. It seems other feelings of yours are stronger than your sense of pain. I suppose I miscalculated the situation. A mistake I won't make again. For now we retreat. I will return, to annihilate you in time, but for the moment… Reimei! Musouka! We leave at once!" Kaizo clenched his wound, blood coating his hand as he called out frantically in pain.

"Yesss…" Musouka said demonically as she went immediately to her master's side.

"Aww, but I'm still having fun." Reimei pouted softly, as she warded off one of her many opponents' attacks. None of the Chunin, it seemed had been able to escape their fight unharmed, Iruka and Akamaru had been wounded the worst.

"We will be seeing each other very soon, Miss Mitarashi. When that time comes you and your companions will die." Kaizo said bitterly before disappearing with the two young girls.

"Anko…" Kurenai called out to her friend as she managed to move to her side. She studied the woman for a moment. The violent fury that adorned those usually gentle eyes struck a note in the other woman's heart. She'd be dead now if it wasn't for that strength. Kurenai had little time to ponder it further before the other woman collapsed lifelessly in her arms, the curse seal receding as she did so. Kurenai stood a moment more gazing at the visage of her savior, before she too was reminded of the venom coursing through her own body. She fainted instantly, Anko's body cushioning the fall of her own.

A/N: So you can see what this fics about better now. All in all this was a pretty busy chapter. I have three OC characters there to keep everyone busy, and mostly just for fun. I thought it'd be fun to play with Anko's curse seal a bit, since it's unexplored territory, don't want to go to far into that though. This was pretty much all action and fighting and stuff, hopefully it was exciting enough. Those of you more interested in the romantic and sexual Anko X Kurenai stuff might prefer the next chapter. Well, till then. See ya.


	3. Fear, Lust, and Devotion

A/N: Alrighty readers, this is chapter three. I'd like to put out a warning here, this chapter will in time disintegrate into a cheap somewhat explicit, awkwardly written lesbian sex scene. Most of you probably don't care, but just so you know this fic is rated M for a reason. Now begins the Anko X Kurenai hotness.

Disclaimer: I do not own Anko or Kurenai (or any other character or element of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto); if I did own them, I would be happy. Really happy…

Anko Mitarashi awoke suddenly. Dreams of an unknown sort had haunted her in her unconsciousness. She now looked about her; she was presently in the same tent that her and Kurenai had shared for the past few weeks. Kurenai Yuhi slept lightly in the chair next to her bedding. It was dark, but Anko had lost all perception of time. A sharp pain still lingered in her neck as she started to her knees.

"So you finally decided to wake up…" Kurenai started with a yawn.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Anko said softly.

"No I'm fine, I'm more worried about you, you've been unconscious for more than a week." Kurenai said with a concerned look.

"Really, I… I'm sorry I worried you." Anko replied somberly.

"It's alright. Have you managed to recover fully." Kurenai said with due sadness.

"I think so, i-it still hurts though… did you watch me the whole time?" Anko said averting her eyes from her friend's melancholy look.

"No I was almost as bad as you at first. The toxin he got me with, seemed to be the same as the virus he was using on the village. The medics from the village were able to cure me using the vaccines they were working on; as a result they seem to have found a cure for the outbreak. I've only been watching over you for about three days now." Kurenai said with a gazing smile.

"T-thank you, Kurenai… I guess we can leave now if they found their cure." Anko said with a sigh.

"That would be irresponsible. Abandoning these people when we know full-well that Kaizo won't leave them unharmed. I'd love to leave, but we have to think of our duty." Kurenai said in a rational tone.

"I had a feeling you'd feel like that. We might not make it through this one you know..." Anko replied rubbing her neck tenderly as she spoke.

"It's not like you to be so pessimistic, Anko." Kurenai said with heartened sigh.

"Well I guess I just haven't been myself lately." Anko said with a soft sarcastic smile.

"Was that you, when you saved me back there?" Kurenai asked curiously.

"Saved you? When did I…" Anko replied inquisitively.

"When you're mark was active… when you protected me and warded him off…" Kurenai said with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I don't remember much besides the pain… I seem to recall thinking to myself that if I let you die, I'd never forgive myself... but I don't…" Anko said embarrassment now etching slightly across her own countenance.

"Oh… really. I suppose it is good to know I have an admirer." Kurenai said with a slight laugh.

"Wha? No it's not like that… you're my friend, it was the rational response I would have had for any comrade in that situation." Anko replied in a panic.

"Maybe, but then again I can only imagine the amount of pain you were in. I doubt that man is as careless as you made him appear… I'd say you'd have to love someone a whole lot to do what you did." Kurenai said with a grin at her friend's frenzied response.

"I-I… stop, you know I don't feel that way about you." Anko said fragilely.

"You shouldn't be ashamed; there aren't many capable of resisting my feminine charms." Kurenai continued on teasingly.

"I'm not interested in women…" Anko responded showing irritation.

"And you don't seem interested in men either; you're afraid. You feel like you were abandoned. You don't want to feel that again, so close yourself off from others, while letting that little mark and your 'interesting' personality keep anyone from wanting to get too close to you." Kurenai switched to a more usual tone.

"I-I… What exactly are you trying to say?" Anko said indignantly.

"That you've fallen completely in love with me, and that back there was just your little way of showing it." Kurenai said with a vicious smile.

"You're wrong… I don't love you." Anko said unbelieving.

"No?! Oh, well too bad, because I seem to have fallen for you." Kurenai said with a smile, before making her move. The older woman moved in swiftly, pressing the other's lips hard to her own. Anko moved in bewildered surprise as she fought against her trusted friend's advances, but her still frail body prevented her escape, as she felt the other woman mouth lock roughly with her own. The kiss soon grew more impassioned, as Anko grew tired of struggling and gave into the momentary bliss of this beautiful kunoichi's tongue slipping slowly and hotly across her teeth and into the insides of her mouth. Soon Anko motioned her own tongue to meet this advance, lashing it about the other tasting the sweet flavor of the other's breath as they their tongues danced at their lips. The kiss broke off after a moment, and Anko moved in to reluctantly defend herself.

"I-I… Well, that was kinda fun… But, Kurenai, you can't seriously want this sort of thing from me. Don't you already have…" Anko started brokenly, unsure of how to approach the other kunoichi.

"I suppose as a career shinobi, it would be unexpected of me to find a truly lasting relationship. Still I've always pursued that foolish little girl's dream of love and happiness even as I've grown older. I've seen some happy moments in the past, yes, but I've never felt as strongly toward anyone as I have you, now. What you did for me really struck me, and to tell the truth for the last few days, as I watched you sleep, my thoughts were not always the most pure." Kurenai said with a proud sigh.

"You didn't do anything, to me, while I was asleep did you?" Anko responded with a slight laugh.

"Of course not… while nothing too bad anyway. I mean I knew if I waited, things would turn out my way anyway." Kurenai said sensually as she moved in closer to the other.

"But, Kurenai you can't expect us to do anything in here right now can you?" Anko asked reluctantly.

"Why not? If you haven't noticed, it's the middle of the night, we're alone, no one will disturb us, and though these aren't the most luxurious of conditions, I see no reason for that to stop me." Kurenai said in an explanatory tone.

"For some reason… Maybe that attack back there knocked somethin' in my head loose, or maybe I do have some sort of feelings for you, or maybe I'm just being effected by Kurenai Yuhi's amazing powers of seduction, but I'm beginning to feel inclined to let you have your way." Anko said with an embarrassed, defensive smirk as she met a sensual glance of the other with one of her own.

"Good. I'm glad you're starting to see things my way. Now, try not to resist." Kurenai said with sexy yet self-serving laugh as she moved in close to claim Anko's lips once more.

Kurenai kissed Anko for a few moments more, before making her full intentions clear beginning to trail her hands sensually across the other's face and neck. Anko responded as if instinctually, as she caressed the other's supple feminine body from top to bottom. Kurenai broke the kiss slowly and ran her kisses down the woman's neck hotly, as she teasingly began to push her shirt up, slowly exposing more of Anko's sexy body in the process. Anko aided her new lover in removing her clothing, fully exposing her tight beautiful curves to the moonlight, as Kurenai eagerly explored each new area. Seductively, the older woman wrapped her arms around the other's waist, and motioned her head toward Anko's chest, letting her tongue dance teasingly at the hard nub, before forcefully taking up a light and periodic suck, all the while maintaining a persistent hard cupping of the other luscious breast, and finally reversing the endeavor.

Enticed by the low moans emanating from the other girl, Kurenai removed herself from Anko's bust and proceeded to undress herself, allowing the other full view of her wondrous body. Now deeply excited, Anko moved in to once more kiss the other woman gently, pressing her naked form to the others in all the right ways, with their breasts touching and their legs wrapped together in such away that either felt the slight pressure against their sex. Anko broke from the kiss in hopeful anticipation of again feeling more, and Kurenai served to satisfy her desires as she moved down her frame lining each new bit of feminine flesh with her gentle kisses until she had reached a desirable area to serve as her affections target. Kurenai began with a soft lick into the core of the other woman's sex, just enough to taste the subtle wetness and force Anko to kick relentlessly in pleasure and anticipation. Kurenai proceeded to strengthen her movements, making sure to indulge every inch of the sensitive slit in its need for pleasure. As Anko settled from exasperated cries into a steady rhythmic moaning, Kurenai slowed her pace and inserted her finger's into the woman, playfully exploring the deep insides with her hand, while teasing the clit with occasional soft licks. With ease, Anko climaxed violently, coating Kurenai's had in a warm stream of sexual fluid which she playfully licked clean with a smile.

Neither woman said a word as Anko raised herself, knowing full well that it was now her turn to try and return that most pleasant feeling. She started, with a forceful kiss, eager to taste herself on her lover's soft lips. She broke off after proceeding to fondle the woman's body, and lowered herself to excitedly pleasure Kurenai's breasts. Lavishing both with her hungry tongue and lips before, moving quickly and lustfully toward the most desirable spot. She latched her mouth onto the full of Kurenai's most precious spot, greedily massaging the woman's private areas with her lips and teeth, before forcing her tongue into the deeper areas. Enticed by this new taste, Anko proceeded to explore the full of the woman's deep core, allowing her tongue to contort in any way it pleased, to collect Kurenai's seductive juices, while causing the most amazing affectionate moans. After a few heated moments of this, Kurenai came just as vigorously as her active partner had if not more so.

"You're pretty good at this aren't you?" Kurenai said with a hot sigh as she moved to face her lover face to face.

"Well, I've never actually been with a woman before… but I did enjoy it. I couldn't stop myself once I got going." Anko spoke lustfully, still licking at her lips.

"And it's that insatiable sexual appetite that made that so much fun… well that and your tongue, but I suppose that's to be expected of a snake summoner…" Kurenai stated explicitly, with a sexual laugh.

"Yeah, I guess, but you were excellent too, I definitely wouldn't mind doing this again." Anko said excitedly.

"Well maybe if we survive this mission, we can start doing this a lot more frequently. It would be fun to see what we can do in an actual bedroom." Kurenai continued in her sensually heated manner.

"Yeah it is a little cramped in here… but you know you're the one seducing me to have sex with you right here and now." Anko said simply with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"I suppose the real reason I made that decision, is out of fear. I could very well die in a short matter of time, in which case I'll have at least had a short few moments of bliss beforehand." Kurenai returned to her more tranquil usual tone.

"I'm not going to let that happen. You see I now have a real reason to make sure we get out of here safely." Anko retorted disjointedly.

"I'd figure you'd think like that, so just so you know, if you can somehow manage to kill Kaizo Karyuudomi, and whatever freaks he's controlling you can have all the hot sex with me you want… as well as my undying love, you just need to prove yourself or something like that." Kurenai said in a heavily mocking tone.

"Do you really feel anything toward me, or are you just trying to manipulate me for your own survival?" Anko said with an odd smile.

"No, I'd definitely say I'm in love with you now, whatever that really means… but seeing as that's no good if were both dead…" Kurenai said allowing her usual seriousness to surface once more.

"All right, I get it. I won't let either of us die. But I won't let my seal become active again either, we're going to do this and we're going to do this together."

"Sounds like a plan, I suppose." Kurenai nodded reluctantly.

"You know when I said I wouldn't mind doing that again, I meant maybe right away." Anko said lightly after a momentary pause.

"Oh, I suppose that's alright." Kurenai replied with a smirk and a loving sigh, before closing once more into the other's warm embrace. Their sexual energy exploded once more as they continued the night's previous struggles well past the rising of the sun.

A/N: Okay, hope ya enjoyed that. I might have rushed things a bit here, but I was actually trying to give this a sort of sporadic fee to it. I couldn't see this as some sort of gradually built fragile relationship, it had to be immediate and intense. Also it is hard to write these two together, there's little to go on, Kurenai is characterized as having a quite serious, precise, and strong but classy and elegant personality. Anko is much simpler with her balance of energetic brashness, and hidden tenderness. I had to take some liberties to throw them together, Kurenai's really sexual, and playful here as well as sarcastic, I realize there's practically nothing to back her sexual side (besides her looks), but It was the clearest way to write them together. I guess I'm just trying to defend myself in case you all say I'm writing out of character here (I guess I kinda am). As for the sex here, I think it's a little bland, hardly different from my other fics, but that is the hardest part to change, I don't want to limit my audience even further than the yuri fans by including unsuitable material, I'd try to do different things but I'm really unsure of how far I should go. Oh well maybe it's just because I wrote it, I'm sure just reading it and keeping an active imagination going will have the right effects on most. Anyway thanks for reading, and expect the next update next week.


	4. Anticipation, Evil, and Love

A/N: All right everyone, here is the fourth chapter, a little bit of a step back after the last chapter, but hopefully it should still prove entertaining.

Disclaimer: This fic is my potato, but Naruto is Masashi Kishimoto's radish.

A week's time passed since Anko and Kurenai's first heated night together. Kaizo Karyuudomi had still yet to make his appearance, but the recent emergence of a new viral strain in the village gave little hope that the madman had forgotten his promise to return. Iruka had returned to Konoha to deliver word of their progress and make a request for some back up. Anko doubted they would get there in time; Karyuudomi had given them, no given her, plenty of time to recover, it was only a matter of time before he showed up. All Anko needed to do was wait, an activity that Anko no longer minded.

"I suppose it is kind of interesting that we're waiting here just to fight this guy." Kurenai said softly in order to start up a conversation.

"Well, we kind of have to now that the virus is re-emerging. We just need to stay here and wait and eventually we'll find each other; I mean our periodic searchings of the area are bound to turn up something eventually." Anko said with a yawn.

"Oh, personally, I'm surprised, I thought you hated waiting. Wasn't there something about terminable boredom…" Kurenai started teasingly.

"I don't seem to mind that as much anymore." Anko replied sarcastically.

"I wonder what on earth could have possibly changed since then." Kurenai spoke even more overtly sarcastic in tone.

"I guess I just found a new way to entertain myself." Anko said with a light blush.

"That seems accurate." Kurenai shrugged.

"As far as I'm concerned, that bastard can take as long as he wants in showing his face here again." Anko said with deep sigh.

"Really? You know will still be able to have our little fun when we get home. Or are you scared we won't make it through this now?" Kurenai spoke with a smile.

"No, I'm definitely ready." Anko reassured her lover.

"Good." Kurenai replied simply.

Only a few hours after their conversation's end, as the sun began to set the shinobi group was greeted by its enemy. Kaizo Karyuudomi, in the same manner as his previous attack, made no effort to catch his opponent off guard but rater, entered the campsite directly and unconcerned, with a vicious smile on his face that seemed to belittle his adversaries. By the time Anko and Kurenai had arrived to the scene, the chunin squad was already staring the evil in the eye.

"We've been waiting for you freaks to show up. This time you're going down." Kiba Inuzuka taunted the evil trio vigorously with an anxious and excited yet angry expression.

"Well then, I'm glad to see someone so young, so eager to die. I trust your companions are in accordance with your view." Kaizo laughed slightly.

"This time we know what to expect, we know all your moves, and we won't be pushed back like last time." Shikamaru said in a tone completely contrasting Kiba's.

"Oh yeah! you haven't seen half of what master's capable of!" The girl known as Reimei said in a cheery way.

"I wouldn't quite say that, child… As for our two lovely ladies here, I'm curious as to how the two of you are feeling." Kaizo said with a wide smile, noticing Anko and Kurenai's appearance.

"I've been waiting for this. I'm gonna pay you back for everything you did to us." Anko shouted exuberantly.

"I too will show you my strength, and ensure you don't leave this place." Kurenai added in a cool, level tone.

"Ah, with your deaths, Orochimaru will surely place me in his best graces." Kaizo said with a wicked smile.

"Is that what you're after? You just want to prove yourself to that bastard." Anko shouted hatefully.

"I thought we went over this last time. What I seek is death, destruction, an end to everything in this foolish world. What Orochimaru seeks is different; he seeks to make the world bend to his own judgment. His ends are very different from my own, but his world is better suited to my own mission." Kaizo spoke in a particularly twisted manner.

"So you think that when Orochimaru rules the world, you'll be able to destroy it. I doubt things will turn out your way." Kotetsu said particularly calmly.

"Why not, through the spread of a destructive degenerative and contagious disease, a man could wipe out a nation. A single plague could destroy an entire race in time. My goal really isn't entirely unrealistic." Kaizo continued to give off his evil smile.

"No your vision is one that is certain to never come to pass." Kurenai said with a strong conviction.

"And why would that be, Miss Yuhi?" Karyuudomi asked with a bitter laugh.

"Simply because this place shall be your grave." Kurenai retorted with her own slight laugh.

"Oh in that case, I think we've talked enough. Let's see who's conviction is the strongest. Reimei. Musouka show these people the power I have blessed you with." Kaizo called out maniacally.

"Yes Master." Both girls replied in very different tones.

Reimei once again charged straight for the chunin group, this time engaging them with a small explosion as a greeting.

"This time I'm not holding back. Master said I have to kill you all, that he needs you all dead or else him and Musouka can't beat those Jounin ladies. So now I'm allowed to use all my power." Reimei smiled distortedly.

"This is going to be troublesome, at least now we know what we're up against this time." Shikamaru gave a bored sigh.

"I am interested to know exactly what you are, girl." Kotetsu said suddenly, intrigued.

"Oh I suppose I could let you know before you die, master told me that I was a project to see if it was possible to genetically reproduce and alter a kekkei genkai in a living specimen. Master was successful to a degree, but the experiments cost too much so he had to quit. He says the research would be useful, but he had a way's to go in completely stabilizing the subject… whatever that means." Reimei said with an upbeat smile of anticipation.

"Alright then let's do this, guys!" Kiba said brashly before he and his canine companion charged the young girl at full force, only to be thwarted by a massive explosion.

The chunin continued to each make charges at the girl, each of which was met with increasingly violent and hard to avoid attacks. As the torrent of explosions sounded down the field from her, the child known as Musouka had began trying to corner Kurenai through a series of leaps. Anko struggled to free her with constant kunai attacks, but as with last time that proved to do little to halt the young girl's movements.

"This shall truly be interesting. I did some thinking, about how you would be able to move when you should have been paralyzed by that seal… I suppose I underestimated the bond the two of you share… I found that it seemed Musouka's technique had found its wrong target. That perhaps the best way to disable you was not through pain but rather fear." Kaizo started relentlessly with a smile before giving a signal to the girl who made a direct and powerful leap onto Kurenai as if everything before that had just been a game.

The hateful red flame this time found its way into Kurenai, who responded with a painful cry before her eyes seemed to gloss over to match the sheen of the heartless child.

"Musouka has charged Miss Yuhi here with hatred, anger, rage and a lust for blood, all of which you have been made the target of, dear Miss Anko Mitarashi. Now let us see, how well will you fare when forced to fight the one you would protect through the most insufferable pain. This is a fight that shall prove to be most entertaining." Kaizo said with an amused laugh.

"No, I can't fight her... Kurenai please snap out of this." Anko said in a distraught manner as her friend and lover charged her with a kunai, her violent expression seemed so foreign to her lovely countenance.

Anko parried the attack shakingly as well as Kurenai's follow-up. She continued to defend herself in vain hoping that Kurenai would somehow recover herself. However, the rage filled Kurenai's strikes just continued to grow more and more intense and soon Anko found herself suffering on the blade of the one she loved most with a short stab to her shoulder.

"Ughh… Kurenai. Stop Please. You said we'd do this together, that we'd both get through this… You said you loved me… Please, please don't do this." Anko called out in pain with a broken look that seemed contrary to her normal strength.

"Well it seems, I really did underestimate the connection the two of you share. I guess I really am evil." Kaizo laughed, in fierce enjoyment.

Kurenai continued her ferocious attacks on her cherished lover, weakening Anko's defense as well as her will, with each consecutive attack. Anko still found herself unable to lift a finger against the other kunoichi, she knew she would be unable to fight this opponent. Her only option now was to help Kurenai recover herself. Convinced, and regaining her determination, Anko leapt forth with a vivacious strike, forcing the short knife from her beloved's hand before taking her into a constraining hold. Anko used all her strength in an attempt to subdue Kurenai's struggles. Softly Anko moved in to place a passionate kiss on the lips of the woman she so loved.

Their eyes met for an instant before Kurenai threw Anko from her roughly. She reclaimed a knife and launched another persistent series of angry strikes.

"Ha. This is too much fun. It seems that Miss Yuhi doesn't return your feelings dear Anko. If she felt as strongly as you did, she wouldn't be so intent on causing you harm." Kaizo laughed bitterly as he watched the lovers fight.

"I have no choice then… It is a shinobi's duty to accept sacrifices…" Anko said with a tear in her eye as she made a fierce charge at the one she loved. Kurenai made several attempts to parry the ensuing strike but they were in vain, as Anko's blade found it's mark deep into Kurenai's chest unleashing a fierce torrent of blood.

"Yes! Yes! This is perfect! What a show, to be rejected in such a manner and then forced to kill the one you loved most. How exhilarating, how amazing. This scene is perfect, don't you agree Miss Mitarashi." Kaizo was howling with disgruntled laughter and exuberance.

"Yes. It is perfect." Anko said with a determined look as she wiped the forced tears from her eyes.

"What? I don't understand. Why would you say that?" Kaizo looked truly puzzled.

Seconds later the bleeding lifeless figure of Kurenai Yuhi disintegrated into the air. A second figure of Kurenai, this one full of life, appeared from the shadows, capturing the emotionless child instantly. With a swift, clean and intensely bloody cut to the neck Musouka Seijo was thrown to the floor, dead.

"Clever. Yes clever indeed. I got so worked up in watching you, I ignored your obvious use of genjutsu here. I hate hard to predict opponents, and love is certainly one of the hardest. No matter… I had grown attached to that girl. Retribution will be had for her death." Kaizo now was angry in his tone, his crazed maniacal expression turned to one of the most bitter seriousness.

A/N: That's chapter four. A nice little battle chapter, chapter five will conclude the fighting. I know the dynamic of loved ones being forced to fight each other if horribly cliché, but I thought it would be an interesting scenario to use, since I had already established Musouka's emotional manipulation ability, and there wasn't much else to do with it. Reimei as you probably guessed was invented solely to keep the excess characters busy. Well anyway next chapters the finale, so yeah till then, thanks for reading.


	5. Destruction and Enchantnment

A/N: Ok, Time for the finale. I hope that you enjoyed it up to this point, and hopefully you like the ending as well. Anyways, here is chapter five.

Disclaimer: Ninjas are cool! (But I don't own any fictional ninjas, including characters of Naruto, nor do I own any other related elements.)

Reimei Bouyaku's heated battle against the Konoha chunin had maintained its ferocity. Her three shinobi opponents had all suffered extensive burns in the wake of her powerful explosions and she doubted they would last much longer. Shikamaru Nara also doubted this bout would go much further. This child was brash and unyielding; they had yet to lay a physical blow on her frame. It was obvious that her body had been altered to reaccept the exploded chakra, but it seemed that it was not without cost, as portions of her body, visible though her all but lack of clothing now appeared raw and damaged. Her instability was her weakness, and with time she would make herself vulnerable.

"It's starting to hurt again. Master why is it starting to hurt again." Reimei started with a angry hate filled cry, though she knew her master was preoccupied.

"He doesn't care about you. You are a tool, something disposable." Kotetsu said coolly.

"No, Master has use for me. He can't carry out his plan if I don't keep you three busy. I'm supposed to use my full power to destroy you… but when I do that it hurts." Reimei cried on having lost her usual enthusiasm.

"You really are weak. You beat us good last time, but being able to endure is a big part of being a shinobi." Kiba added fiercely.

"Shut up! I can still win… I'll show you!" Reimei charged forward destructively, jumping the Inuzuka child in a hold and charging her explosion in his direction. With a fierce jolt his loyal dog charged to his aid, forcing his master free by taking a vicious bite at the girl's stomach, but enduring the greater part of the blast.

"Akamaru! Dammit! You'll pay for that." Kiba rushed to the side of the injured dog.

The purple haired girl moved swiftly and silently to her next target, pulling off some desperate acrobatics in order to lad a glancing blow at Kotetsu's arm thought taking some collateral damage herself. Now, Shikamru decided to make his move landing his opponent suddenly in his trademark jutsu.

"This again, you can try all you want but you won't escape unharmed." Reimei yelled angrily through signs of pain.

"This time neither will you…" Shikamaru replied simply as his opponent took on her usual purple aura. Timing it just right Shikamru released his hold in just enough time to avoid the explosion being lethal yet the damage would prove to prohibit any more immediate movement.

As the smoke cleared, Reimei clenched her body in pain, much of the skin of her fragile frame was charred and burnt. She fell to her knees and coughed up a great deal of blood before attempting speech.

"Why does it hurt so much?" Reimei cried helplessly.

"The second you let us damage you, was the second your defense fell apart. You're technique left your skin increasingly irritated, so it was safe to assume that you would have little protection in areas that had already been physically damaged. I just had to wait till you had suffered enough damage, and then just wait till you did yourself in." Shikamaru, wounded but still conscious managed to say with a stagger.

"No I can't lose." Reimei Bouyaku cried out childishly before suffering a finishing blow at the end of Kiba's blade.

Shikamaru managed to straddle himself against a tree and offered to watch the equally injured Akamaru, while his more healthy comrades raced to the aid of their jounin comrades. Anko was currently facing down the evil mastermind. Kaizo Karyuudomi had a look of total rage and hatred now as he tried to spread his poison via some clearly coated senbon. Anko used her agility and skill to avoid all incoming attacks, while her and Kurenai made their own attempts to find a hit. It soon was obvious to the evil man that he would need to unleash his full power.

"Now it is time you die." Kaizo called before allowing his curse seal to open, once more distorting his form in dark markings.

"So you finally decided to show us your full power. I've been waiting for this." Anko said with an eager laugh before unleashing a large snake upon the newly empowered Kaizo.

Kaizo slew the animal quite readily before it had reached his flesh, but Kurenai had used the opportunity to make an attack from behind with a painful stab to the detestable man. Despite the incredible power associated with the curse seal, he seemed to have little chance of defeating two skilled jounin at once, and as the chunin made their way onto the scene, his odds of winning seemed even less likely.

"We took care of ours' so now we can help you with this guy, Sensei." Kiba called fiercely.

"Be on your guard Kiba, he's got a curse seal, which means he isn't an easy foe." Kurenai instructed.

"I've fought guys like that before. I'm not scared." Kiba responded simply.

"Ha, so now we got you there's no where for you to hide now that you have four opponents." Anko boasted enthusiastically.

"So Reimei is dead as well. I'm cornered and trapped, and facing death. But I will not lose. I cannot lose. I have something stored away just for that. You see this drug this will give me the power I need to defeat you." Kaizo's speech was the clear rant of a madman, as he took a small vial from his waist.

"Nothing can save you now. Don't you see you're through." Kotetsu said with a slight smile.

"No! I will not lose. It's imperfect. It's liable to drive me insane! No even kill me! But with this my curse seal can achieve power maybe even beyond what Orochimaru is capable of." With that Kaizo Karyuudomi ingested the liquid in the vial.

Rapidly his body began to change. He became even thinner and shorter than he already was, shriveling to a point where his skeleton was clearly visible. His blonde hair grew several lengths, each more disturbingly pale than the last. His skin turned an off, harsh red-brown, while his hands grew several sizes, his fingernails becoming as talons that seemed to drip poison. The entirety of his eyes now glowing with the illuminated color of blood, Kaizo Karyuudomi had become a monster.

"Watch out. This looks bad. We don't know what this thing is capable of." Anko called out trying not to lose her cool.

"DIEEEEEEEEE" Kaizo gave an inhuman shriek that seemed to echo many times before reaching the group's ears. He drew forth an encased bubble of green liquid from his hands. He whirled around a few times shrieking at high pitch before dislodging the orb in Kotetsu's direction. The chunin dodged the attack swiftly but was splashed with some of the toxin as the bubble burst against a tree. The group watched in horror as the tree immediately rotted and died, whilst their effected companion fell to the ground paralyzed by unconsciousness.

"Kiba you get him out of here. We'll take care of this." Kurenai ordered fiercely.

"B-but you saw that, if you so much as get touched by enough of that stuff you're as good as dead." Kiba said in panic.

"I know, but don't worry. I-, no we, are not about to die. It may look bad, but I have faith in a certain promise I made, and I'm not about to back down for anything." Kurenai said without flinching, the hideous monster before her leaving no shadow of fear in her words.

"Right." Kiba said reluctantly as he carried his comrade and himself to safety.

"God, I wish I was as confident about this as you were, Kurenai." Anko said shaking her head in distraught.

"While seeing as how you're the source of my confidence, I see no reason to worry." Kurenai remarked coolly.

"This really isn't the time for sarcastic remarks..." Anko responded harshly.

"No I'm serious. I trust you. I love you. As long as you're beside me I see no reason to be afraid." Kurenai spoke devotedly.

"Yeah… We can still do this." Anko said as she recovered her vigor.

Kaizo gave them no more time for discussion as he charged forth bearing his claws at the younger woman. Anko struggled successfully to avoid direct contact with the poison coated talons, yet watched as the fabric of her coat would disintegrate immediately with even the slightest contact. From a range, Kurenai threw a volley of shuriken at the monster who responded by dislodging a blast of poison from his throat that ate away at the metal blades until there was nothing left. Kaizo proceeded to lash out another wave of his venom, this time in the form of short spurts. Anko avoided most of them and burnt the others off with a well-timed fire jutsu. Anko followed that by summoning a large snake, which immediately lept forward, rapping itself up the monster's arm biting him hard at the neck. Kaizo bared his evil smile as the two women watched the snake hiss and writhe about before falling to the ground dead. Kurenai took the opportunity to make a few more long-range attempts to damage him, all of which had the same results.

"Dammit! If only I could activate this seal again… Then I could protect you." Anko called out in frustration.

"Even if you could, I doubt it would do much good. That seal doesn't give you any real extra protection, if it did become active you'd just charge in without thinking and die. Besides we have him outnumbered, if we keep at it it's just a matter of time before we've won this." Kurenai explained reasonably.

"No you can say that, but do we really stand a chance against this guy. Maybe we should just get away…"Anko said in a depressed manner.

"Go ahead if you want to. I'm going to stay here and fight. I'm not going to let anyone die by this thing's hands." Kurenai said strongly.

"You really do have a way of forcing me to do stupid things. I guess I have no choice now." Anko said forcing a smile, unsure of her next move.

Kaizo gave another hard shriek as he charged Kurenai fiercly. He made several swipes at the woman as she evaded with quick back steps. Anko jumped forward slashing at the monster from the back with a kunai, taking care not to let the poisonous blood of the monster to reach her. Kaizo gave a furious howl as he averted his attention to Anko, pushing her back further and further. Kurenai fired a kunai with deadly aim, forcing the beast to avert his attention momentarily before returning his attention to the one who wounded him, slowly cornering Anko against a tree. Kurenai watched from afar, as Kaizo's claws ripped through the illusion of Anko she had created. Satisfied at the distorted death-form at his feet, Kaizo turned to his other opponent but was despaired to find nothing.

"You looking for me… I'm sorry but it seems you lose after all." Kurenai spoke as the lifeless body at the ground warped into her own.

She grabbed at the legs of the monster holding them hard with all her strength. Suddenly from the shadows Anko, emerged from behind the beast. At full speed, she charged forth with a jump before forcing a kunai through Kaizo's eye, pushing it hard until she heard the sound of his skull shattering. She flipped back in an attempt to avoid the ensuing torrent of blood, before turning to her lover with a smile. The two watched as Kaizo Karyuudomi died painfully, blood rushing from his wound.

"Even touching his skin, seems to have made my hands numb." Kurenai said with a sigh.

"And my gloves aren't going to be much use anymore." Anko added as she removed and threw the blood soaked gloves to the ground watching as they disintegrated in the process.

"It seems we really did make it out of there all right… And I was certain at least one of us would die…" Kurenai spoke smugly.

"But didn't you just say that you trusted we'd be okay and that we had no reason to be afraid." Anko said with an irritated smirk.

"Well yeah, but if I hadn't said that you never would have been motivated to fight your best." Kurenai laughed.

"You're crazy… you know that… But I am glad we're both safe." Anko replied softly.

"I'm just surprised you managed to get so in synch with my strategies without a word, not once but twice today. Maybe it is true love." Kurenai said with a mocking smile.

"It wasn't hard to tell. Just now I figured you had something like that up you're sleave since it worked so well before, I just needed to wait until you gave me the right signals. And well… the first time… when I kissed you, I knew you had returned to yourself, and from the way you reacted, I just sorta knew what you were planning." Anko explained with a smug look.

"Yes, but I never would have imagined you'd actually stab me. I mean you must have been pretty sure of yourself." Kurenai sighed once more.

"Something like that, I guess…" Anko nodded slightly.

"In that case let's go regroup with the others." Kurenai said softly as the two left to join their injured comrades.

"Kiba, we've gotten that taken care of. Is everyone holding out okay." Kurenai started unassumingly as she looked around at the huddled figures about, Kotetsu was still unconscious, Shikamaru had fallen asleep, and the injured dog, Akamrau, now panted softly at Kiba's side.

"We should take everyone into the village for treatment immediately. The villagers will be happy to hear they're in no more danger as well. Then we'll finally be out of here." Anko added excitedly.

"Well damn. I was certain you'd both be dead by now, and that I'd be next after that." Kiba looked surprised as he spoke.

"Don't you know better than to doubt me, Kiba?" Kurenai added proudly.

"Well… yeah… but that looked hopeless to me. I can't see how you were able to win that one." Kiba responded disjointedly.

"Well, you see, the power of love can crush any evil." Kurenai exclaimed sarcastically.

"Wait love… but there's no… unless… but that's… her… you're not… or maybe… but when did you… I-I don't…" Kiba failed to make a coherent response.

"Well you see Kiba, sometimes we have to make adult decision on who we let into our lives, and I think I made a good one." Kurenai said in a deeply patronizing voice at Kiba's blank look.

"I on the other hand am still up in the air on this one." Anko replied with a deep irritated sigh.

"Oh come on, you know you love me." Kurenai responded cheerfully as she gave Anko a slight kiss on her cheek. Kiba, still unable to speak, turned from the scene in embarrassment.

"I guess you're right. I don't think there's any other explanation." Anko said before going in for another kiss, this time a passionate one on the lips. For there was really no other explanation for her strength this time. It wasn't any latent power or skill that allowed her to savor the sweet kiss of this woman she loved, but simply the strength of that love.

A/N: That's it. The end. Hope ya liked it. This chapter was fun. The fight at the beginning was sorta forced, but it was my fault for putting in excess characters. I enjoyed writing Anko and Kurenai's fight though. I think I made it pretty cool. Kaizo's death was pretty intense, but I think he deserved it. I liked this fic, it was fun once it got going. Next, I'm doing a Tenten X Hinata fic, and this time I'm not going to skip over it. Unfortunately, you probably won't be seeing it until January. I think I'm going to give myself a little break for the holidays. Anyways thanks for reading and see ya soon.


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